“That from tomorrow you will no longer be my lawyer.”
He slips from my grasp and rejoins his family, leaving me speechless.
“A tough guy,” Paul approaches me along with Vanessa. “I didn’t expect that. He practically told you to fuck off. How does that feel?”
“Paul!” Vanessa retorts.
“It doesn’t matter, Vanessa, I think I deserve it.”
“Tell me about it! And do you know what else you deserve?”
“A punch in the face?”
Paul smiles at me. “You deserve to be happy with the person you love.”
“What…”
Vanessa smiles with her whole face. “Go get your family back,” she says before giving me a kiss on the cheek and going to sit with the kids.
“You’re both crazy,” I say uncomfortably, adjusting my tie.
“The only one who’s crazy here is you. We know it, you know it, even the judge figured it out! Why don’t you tell him so, and let’s cut the bullshit? You’re forty-two years old, for Christ’s sake! You might as well get your head straight, don’t you think?”
“I don’t… I… He doesn’t…” I sigh heavily before giving in. “He doesn’t want me anymore.” The revelation comes, in my mind and on my lips, more painful and final than ever.
Seth doesn’t want me anymore. I have hurt him. I betrayed his trust. And now I deserve his hatred. Even though I don’t believe that people like Seth are capable of such feelings.
“This is the mother of all bullshit! I mean… Have you seen the way he looks at you?”
I instinctively turn to him. Seth is still looking at me. It hurts to have his sad eyes on me. It hurts to know that I am the cause of his sadness. And it hurts even more to know that I can’t be the one to make them smile again.
“I hurt him. And he won’t forgive me.”
“And you give him something, something real, Rowan. Something to make him know that he is the only one for you. And that you want nothing more than to be with him.”
* * *
“HERE I AM, YOUR HONOUR, I apologise for the delay.”
I sit down next to Seth, who grabs me by the arm.
“Where have you been?”
“I had to… er… prepare for the grand finale.”
“What are you talking about?”
I stand up and clear my throat.
“What’s going on, Mr Kennedy?” The judge asks.
“I’d like to say a few words, Your Honour.”
“This again?” One of the opposing lawyers blurts out as he stands up. “Your Honour!”
“We’ve come to a reckoning, Mr Kennedy,” the judge tells me. “And in any case, I have already made my decision. Nothing you say is going to change my mind.”
“I beg to differ.”
